Fresno State was led by its two guards, Kevin Bell and Eddie Miller, both posting career highs in points.
“I thought we had some guys who really stepped up. I'm not sure I've been in a basketball game like this before. Kevin Bell and Eddie Miller made some big shots,” Head Coach Steve Cleveland said.
Miller was the game’s high scorer with 30 points, 15 from beyond the arc, and Bell added 26 points and 8 assists, but it was still not enough for the Bulldogs to slow down the high-scoring offense of Boise State.
The Broncos came into Monday’s game averaging 83.0 points per game on 52% shooting from the floor and 40.4% from three-point range. Boise’s leading scorer, Reggie Larry, led the Broncos with 27 points and 16 rebounds, including the final two points of the game.
The game appeared to be out of hand for Head Coach Steve Cleveland’s Bulldogs late in the second half, trailing by 9 at one point. Starters Ned Golubovic and Tyson Parker both fouled out and the team appeared to have no answer for the Broncos fast paced offense.
With only 3:30 left in the game, the Bulldogs were down by 8 points and desperation was setting in for the weary home team. Senior Eddie Miller had 4 of his 30 points in a rare 4-point play and the Bulldogs seemed to regain life.
The Broncos were in control of the game with only 12 second left until Hector Hernandez hit a 23 foot 3-point shot to bring the Bulldogs within 1 point, 79-78. After a quick inbounds, the Bulldogs intentionally fouled Reggie Larry, sending him to the line.
Larry made 1 of 2 free throws making the score 80-78 and Point Guard Kevin Bell quickly pushed the ball up-court and drove to the basket. Bell drew a foul with 3.5 seconds left on the clock and had a chance to send the game to overtime.
The Bulldogs’ Captain knocked down both shots and sent the game into extra minutes. The Bulldogs controlled the tempo of the overtime period, even without two starters, forcing the team to play Bell and Miller for the entire game, 45 minutes each. Hernandez logged 38 minutes and is still recovering from the flu.
The game appeared in hand when Boise State fouled Freshman Guard Myles Green with less than 15 second remaining in the game. Green made 1 of 2 free throws putting the Bulldogs up by 4 points and the game seemed to be over.
“Myles (Green) made a big free throw in overtime for a freshman in just his second game,” Cleveland said.
Boise quickly pushed the ball up-court and Guard Matt Bauscher hit a 3-point basket. The following inbounds pass by Hernandez narrowly missed the hands of Bell and possession returned to the visiting Broncos underneath their own basket.
The inbounds pass found Reggie Larry under the hoop for an easy layup and a 1 point overtime victory for the Broncos. Bell tried to get a basket in the final seconds, but his attempt rolled off the rim as the final buzzer sounded.
“We made a few mistakes at the end and we can't change that or take them back. They are young men who made mistakes and they are hurting,” Cleveland said.
The Bulldogs barely edged the Broncos in rebounding, 39 to 38, and shot 43.5% from the floor, but still came up short after a comeback effort.
Hector Hernandez contributed 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting and 9 rebounds and Forward Alex Blair added a career-high 12 rebounds.
The Bulldogs fell to 10-11 on the year and 3-4 in the WAC while the Broncos improved to 15-5 and 6-2 in the WAC. The team will have a chance to rebound Thursday night as the Bulldogs travel to Reno to face the Nevada Wolfpack.
“We have to move on from here. We have Nevada on Thursday in Reno. We'll have a long travel day on a bus on Wednesday,” Cleveland added. “The bottom line, we can't dwell on this or talk about it. We need to learn from it and move on and get ready for a very good Nevada team.”
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